ATLANTA — After mounting criticism for sitting on hate crimes legislation already passed by the House, Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan released his own version of the bill Wednesday.

The Senate legislation is vastly different from the bill that came from the other side of the chamber, which Duncan called a “solid start.”

The proposal would make a hate crime a stand-alone charge rather than an enhancement to another crime.

Like the House bill, it would impose new penalties for crimes motivated by age, gender, ethnicity, race and sexual orientation. Duncan’s legislation, however, expands to include “culture,” “exercise of religious beliefs” and “exercising rights guaranteed by the First Amendment.”

“This issue is way too important for 11 million Georgians and we must get it right,” Duncan said Wednesday. “We must put policy over politics.”

The bill would allow charges to be brought by a grand jury for a hate crime charge if a prosecutor didn’t choose to do so. Charges would carry a penalty of one to five years.

The killing of Ahmaud Arbery in Brunswick renewed the call for hate crimes legislation that has been shot down for years but critics say the Senate has refused to move their bill — House Bill 426 — forward.

Georgia is one of only four remaining states without a similar law, and since Arbery’s death, protesters and business and political leaders have pushed for Georgia legislation.

House Speaker David Ralston has made loud calls for the Senate to pass the House bill, saying on the first day of the session restart that if it is not passed, “it will be a stain on this state that we can never wash away.”

On Tuesday, he again made a plea for the Senate to pass a “clean” hate-crimes bill and warned the clock is ticking down to the final day.

Immediately after Duncan unveiled his new bill that he touted as a step beyond HB426, critics said introducing the new legislation after Crossover Day would likely kill any chance of measures being passed.

House Democratic Caucus members called Duncan’s actions insincere and said Wednesday he had blocked hate-crime efforts in the past.

“It’s an insult to our intelligence for this man to say he had a change of conscience,” House Minority Leader James Beverly, D-Macon, said.

Beverly said the Senate should pass the House bill now while time is running out and consider amendments or the lieutenant governor’s broader measure next legislative session.

Rep. Calvin Smyre, the longest-serving member under the Gold Dome, said lawmakers are “up against a legislative clock.”

“House Bill 426 has to be the vehicle by which we go forward,” he said. “Because if not, then we’re going to get into a logjam.”

But Duncan argues he is well aware of the obstacles the legislation faces but now “is the right time and the right place in Georgia to lead” on hate crimes legislation.

“I urge all key stakeholders involved in this process to avoid the trappings of playing petty politics, generating unnecessary synthetic friction between the House and the Senate and comparing Republican ideas to Democratic ideas,” he said.